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A Short History of Microwave Engineering

Microwave engineering began over 50 years ago with the development of radar during World War II. Recent decades have seen substantial growth in solid-state devices, integrated circuits, and computer-aided design, expanding applications to wireless communications, networking, sensing and security. The theoretical foundations were established by James Clerk Maxwell in 1873 and Oliver Heaviside in the 1880s, and validated experimentally by Heinrich Hertz in the late 1880s. During World War II, the Radiation Laboratory at MIT gathered top scientists to intensely develop microwave theory and technology for radar applications. Their work provided foundations for modern microwave engineering.

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Gerardo Elizalde Rey
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575 views2 pages

A Short History of Microwave Engineering

Microwave engineering began over 50 years ago with the development of radar during World War II. Recent decades have seen substantial growth in solid-state devices, integrated circuits, and computer-aided design, expanding applications to wireless communications, networking, sensing and security. The theoretical foundations were established by James Clerk Maxwell in 1873 and Oliver Heaviside in the 1880s, and validated experimentally by Heinrich Hertz in the late 1880s. During World War II, the Radiation Laboratory at MIT gathered top scientists to intensely develop microwave theory and technology for radar applications. Their work provided foundations for modern microwave engineering.

Uploaded by

Gerardo Elizalde Rey
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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A Short History of Microwave Engineering Microwave engineering is often considered a fairly

mature discipline because the fundamental concepts were developed more than 50 years ago, and
probably because radar, the first major application of microwave technology, was intensively
developed as far back as World War II. However, recent years have brought substantial and
continuing developments in high-frequency solid-state devices, microwave integrated circuits, and
computer-aided design techniques, and the ever-widening applications of RF and microwave
technology to wireless communications, networking, sensing, and security have kept the field
active and vibrant. The foundations of modern electromagnetic theory were formulated in 1873
by James Clerk Maxwell, who hypothesized, solely from mathematical considerations,
electromagnetic wave propagation and the idea that light was a form of electromagnetic energy.
Maxwells formulation was cast in its modern form by Oliver Heaviside during the period from
1885 to 1887. Heaviside was a reclusive genius whose efforts removed many of the mathematical
complexities of Maxwells theory, introduced vector notation, and provided a foundation for
practical applications of guided waves and transmission lines. Heinrich Hertz, a German professor
of physics and a gifted experimentalist who understood the theory published by Maxwell, carried
out a set of experiments during the period 18871891 that validated Maxwells theory of
electromagnetic waves. Figure 1.2 is a photograph of the original equipment used by Hertz in his
experiments. It is interesting to observe that this is an instance of a discovery occurring after a
prediction has been made on theoretical groundsa characteristic of many of the major
discoveries throughout the history of science. All of the practical applications of electromagnetic
theoryradio, television, radar, cellular telephones, and wireless networkingowe their
existence to the theoretical work of Maxwell. Because of the lack of reliable microwave sources
and other components, the rapid growth of radio technology in the early 1900s occurred primarily
in the HF to VHF range. It was not until the 1940s and the advent of radar development during
World War II that microwave theory and technology received substantial interest. In the United
States, the Radiation Laboratory was established at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to
develop radar theory and practice. A number of talented scientists, including N. Marcuvitz,
I. I. Rabi, J. S. Schwinger, H. A. Bethe, E. M. Purcell, C. G. Montgomery, and R. H. Dicke,
among others, gathered for a very intensive period of development in the microwave
field. Their work included the theoretical and experimental treatment of waveguide
components, microwave antennas, small-aperture coupling theory, and the
beginnings of microwave network theory. Many of these researchers were physicists
who returned to physics research after the war, but their microwave work is
summarized in the classic 28-volume Radiation Laboratory Series of books that still
finds application today. Communications systems using microwave technology began
to be developed soon after the birth of radar, benefiting from much of the work that
was originally done for radar systems. The advantages offered by microwave systems,
including wide bandwidths and line-of-sight propagation, have proved to be critical for
both terrestrial and satellite communications systems and have thus provided an
impetus for the continuing development of low-cost miniaturized microwave
components. We refer the interested reader to references [1] and [2] for further
historical perspectives on the fields of wireless communications and microwave
engineering.

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